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Commission debates whether to recommend waiving ~$39,720 open-space fee for volunteer fire company
Summary
Engineers calculated an illustrative open-space fee of about $39,720; commissioners discussed recommending waiver to township council given the applicant’s volunteer status, but reserved a final decision for council and directed the applicant to submit a formal waiver request if desired.
Commissioners reviewed subdivision and land-development comment #30 about the township's open-space fee and whether the Lower Saucon Fire Rescue project should pay a fee-in-lieu of land dedication.
Ian Kaufman walked commissioners through the calculation and said, "As I have it calculated, it would be approximately $39,720." He emphasized the fire company is volunteer-run and relies on fundraising, and asked if the township would prefer to accept a fee or waive it. Several commissioners said the question was ultimately a township-council policy decision but indicated an inclination to recommend a waiver given the project's public-service purpose.
Discussion covered three options: recommend waiving the fee, recommend not waiving it, or make no recommendation and leave the decision to council. "It's a policy decision by township council," one commissioner said, adding that the commission could either make a formal recommendation or leave it to council. The applicant said he would submit a formal waiver request if the commission wanted it on record.
The commission did not adopt a final position during the meeting; members asked the applicant to include the waiver in any revised submission and noted council would be the entity to accept or waive the fee.
